NEW YORK - Hewlett-Packard Co.’s new tablet might look a little bit like Apple Inc.’s latest blockbuster gadget but it’s not meant to be an iPad killer.

HP, the world’s largest computer maker, started selling the Slate 500 late last month. It costs $799 and, like the iPad, has a touch-sensitive screen and no keyboard. But unlike the iPad, the device is aimed squarely at business users.

Apple sold about 7.5 million iPads since April, when the device first went on sale. Competitors have been scrambling to catch up, and the first consumer tablets running Google Inc.’s Android system have just reached the market.

HP is expected to jump in, too. After HP acquired Palm, executives from the company have said that future consumer products, such as phones and tablets, will run Palm’s webOS software instead of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows system.

Consumers will have to wait, it seems.

The Slate 500 runs Windows 7, the same operating system found on modern PCs. It has the kind of processor typically used to power smaller netbooks, but thanks to a graphics card by Broadcom Corp., the tablet should be powerful enough to play high-definition movies on its 8.9-inch display. Like a PC, it also has a webcam, memory card slot, ports to plug in headphones and a USB port for accessories such as a keyboards.

According to an HP release, Windows 7, "supports a wide variety of business solutions, from retail point-of-sale to hospitality, banking, healthcare or any custom business application."

Like the iPad, the Slate 500’s screen allows users to swipe their fingers across the screen to navigate - for example, pinching to zoom in on a Web page. Users can also write on the screen with a pen and convert their scribbles to text using handwriting-recognition software.

The HP release continued: "You can probably imagine a thousand applications of the device in business scenarios. Wouldn’t it be great if after a car accident, your insurance agent could take your statement, photograph and video the scene, and send all the information to the claims office on the spot? That’s the direction we’re heading for our business customers."

Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer first teased the Slate 500 at the Consumer Electronics Show in January. At the time, it was unclear that it would be marketed to businesses.

Since January, few Windows 7 tablets have reached the market. None have garnered even a fraction of the attention paid to the iPad.

This could be because Windows 7 consumes power faster than Android or Apple's software, which run on lower-power chips. An executive from Taiwanese PC manufacturer MSI Computer said earlier this year that although the company intends to sell tablets running Windows 7, it will not do so until Intel releases new processors that promise to improve battery life.

The Slate 500 will be available in the United States before it goes on sale in other regions.